Expiration Dates has a really interesting premise: each time the female protagonist meets a new man she receives a slip of paper telling her how long she's going to date him. I'm a big fan of magic realism and Rebecca Serle always comes up with the most heartfelt ways to write a love story and a characters emotional journey towards healing and acceptance.

The second part of the story served a twist that I didn't see coming and took me out of the novel momentarily, I won't spoil it here but I would have personally liked to see a trigger warning at the start of the book.

Once I was able to adapt to the new route the story was taking me I was OK.

Overall, I enjoyed this book more than her last one and I am excited to see what she writes next.

I also had an opportunity to listen to an ALC narrated by Julia Whelan and her narration is spot on as always.

While the concept of knowing the timeline of Daphne's relationship's worked for me to read, I would literally hate everything about that for my own life. I'd always be preparing for doomsday. But, that's the beauty of reading and the magical genre. It was just far-fetched enough to work. I enjoyed it.

I predicted the ending very early on - I even messaged a friend exactly what was going to happen and I was 100% correct. It was charming and made us focus on the real theme of the story which was to trust your heart and not let the rest of the world tell you who you should or shouldn't love.

I'm a fan of Rebecca Serle and can't wait to see what she writes next!

I have mixed thoughts about this book. I really enjoyed the premise, and I was engaged from the first page. I loved Daphne and this little quirk she has. The thought of receiving a note with a person's name and time frame is intriguing. But when she receives her last note with the name Jake and no time frame, she isn't sure what to think. As this relationship grows, she shares her health history and learns that Jake's first wife died. Meant to be, right? Until she learns her friend, Hugo is still in love with her after their break-up 5 years prior. Realizing that she is constantly limiting herself because of her heart condition and not enjoying the present, she takes into account all the experiences she has had and doesn't want to limit herself any longer and live her life no matter how long she has.

As much as I loved the story, it fell flat for me with a few clichés. And I didn't really care for Hugo and his personality.

This is the second book I have read by Rebecca, and having enjoyed the other book I read by her, I couldn’t wait to dive into this one. My thanks to Atria for providing me with an ARC.

I made a point not to read any previews or summaries of this book beforehand because Rebecca's stories always contain surprising elements with a touch of magic.

Daphne works as an assistant to Irina in LA. Although her job is demanding, she loves it. Hugo, one of her best friends, whom she briefly dated for three months before they decided to remain friends, often joins her for Sunday morning outings to the Farmer’s Market. Her friend Kendra wants to set her up with Josh on a blind date, and Daphne agrees to meet him.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Daphne’s past relationships and how, each time she begins dating someone, she discovers a piece of paper predicting the duration of the relationship. These mysterious notes appear randomly, foretelling the fate of her romantic endeavors.

The narrative alternates between Daphne’s current life and her past relationships. With each new relationship, a postcard or piece of paper magically appears just as she meets someone or just before, revealing the person's name and the length of their relationship.

In a turn of events, Daphne receives a new piece of paper with Josh's name but no specified duration, unlike previous notes which indicated specific times like a week, two years, or three months. It seems Daphne may have finally met her lifelong partner.

The story was sweet and included a couple of unexpected twists. The twist in "In Five Years" took me by surprise, and this book’s twist was equally startling. I breezed through the book, eager to reach the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am excited to see what Rebecca writes next. I would rate this book 4.75 out of 5 stars; it was emotionally resonant and truly touched me.

Rebecca Serle always mixes a little magical realism/fantasy with real life in her novels, and it’s something that I’ve come to rely on and look forward to. (And it’s just a teeny tiny bit, which is perfect for me as I’m not a big fan of those genres.) In her forthcoming novel, Expiration Dates, Serle uses a unique concept for a romance storyline:

“𝘋𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

Super intriguing, right? Can you even imagine? I’d absolutely hate that. I’d always be dreading doomsday ahead. I don’t think I could ever fully commit, appreciate, or embrace any relationship. I’ve read all of Serle’s novels, and sadly, this one ended up a little low on the ladder when it comes to rankings. Just for reference, The Dinner List and In Five Years are at the very top. To be honest, this one just felt a little bland to me. The storyline was original and fresh, but it just didn’t pull me in. I didn’t really get into it, or feel for the MC until about the halfway point. There’s a couple of shocking surprises/twists that I did not see coming at all, so that was greatly appreciated. I love when an author can make my jaw drop. Oh, and the audiobook is narrated by the fabulous Julia Whelan, so I highly recommend going the audio route if you’re a fan of hers. It’s a super duper quick and easy read/listen too. I think if you’ve enjoyed Serle’s novels in the past, you’ll dig this one as well. I’m looking forward to what Serle writes next! Expiration Dates is out on March 19th! I give it 3.5/5 stars!

I was so thrilled to recieve an e-arc of this highly anticipated novel from Rebecca Serle. This was a nice change of pace and atmosphere from my usual reading and I really loved it. I think readers, like myself, will really resonate with our MC Daphne. Serle's writing is so authentic and it really goes through all of the stages, I found, of fidnign love to falling in love and even love finding you. I highly recommend this incredible work and I am definetly going to dig into Rebecca Serle's other books!

This kind of feels like watching an influencer name drop every recognizable street name/location/landmark in California because they make living in Cali their whole aesthetic.

I really enjoyed In Five Years by this author, the only other book I’ve read from her, but this didn’t hit me the way that one did. I didn’t enjoy the writing, the past chapters of every guy the mc has dated, or the characters themselves. I couldn’t connect to a single character or relationship because the writing never felt like it went deep enough even though it tries hard to get the reader emotional. I think I just wanted more from the story overall.

I have such mixed feelings about Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. I love her writing and it was a book I didn’t want to put it down. I was really into the first half of the book, but then it took a few turns. I think these things might work for most readers, but I didn’t love the last half nearly as much as the first.

Daphne knows how long her relationships will last, she always has. I loved this premise. When she gets the name ‘Jake’ and there is nothing following it, she knows this one is for keeps. Her best friend Hugo (previously ‘Hugo- 5 months) is the only one who knows about these notes and encourages her to give things with Jake a real go.

I thought Jake was great. I liked Hugo too. Daphne was fine. There was a twist that happened later in the book and then there was the ending. I’m not sure I loved either. I think I could have loved the ending, had we got more. I also wasn’t a fan of all the chapters of her previous relationships. I’m not sure it added much to the story. Overall, not my favorite from this author but there were things about it I did enjoy. A unique romance.

I loved every single word of this book! I love all her books but this one has not become my all new favorite one! It’s a must read!

At times I wasn’t sure if I would end up liking this story. It seemed like an odd concept, always knowing when your relationships would end. What’s the point? Can you even enjoy them in the moment knowing that it will end? There is a twist, however, that changed my opinion and I found the story to be sweet and emotional. This was a cute, second-chance romance with some quirkiness, strong friendships, and life lessons.

What is it about the magical realism genre that just tugs on my heartstrings so much?! I can’t get enough. The premise of this book sucked me in from the first chapter. Daphne mysteriously receives a slip of paper with each of her boyfriend’s names and an amount of time written on them. Sometimes they come before she meets them, sometimes after. So what happens when a slip comes with no time limit?

I really enjoyed Serle’s writing. It felt honest and personal. I had an idea of where the story was going to go, but I wasn’t sure how it would get there, and I loved that. There were a few nit-picky things I didn’t love, but overall I really enjoyed this story. A great vacation read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book!

Thank you @atriabooks @netgalley for a copy of this book. I enjoyed the premise of the book with Daphne receiving random notes with a name and how long the relationship will last with that person. We get to see Daphne as present day as well as her previous relationships. It was interesting to see how this sort of sabotages her relationships knowing there's an end date. I love the twists in the story and really loved the last 1/3 of the book.

I absolutely loved this book! This is my third book by this author and this is my favorite. The premise is so fun, but the book is so much more than love. It’s about life being short and taking each opportunity to live it to the fullest.
Daphne has been getting postcards since she was young with a man’s name and a timeline. Each card tells her who she’s going to date and how long. Her life takes a turn at 20, so each new card felt like a lifeline. Suddenly she gets a card that has just the name Jake. Jake is a nice guy and has all the qualities you need in a partner. He would be her perfect forever. The only problem is a guy from her past has a grip on her heart.

This was okay. It took me a while to get into it. Daphne has this power where she gets a paper with a guy’s name on it that also says how long she will be with him. One day she receives a paper with just a name but no end date. I liked the flashbacks talking about the other relationships but I didn’t love the current timeline. The twist was also a little out of nowhere and was more than halfway through the book. I found the relationship with Hugo to be unlikely and unbelievable. The end was also very abrupt.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another great read by Rebecca’ Serle. Whenever I need a nice feel good but emotional story she’s my go to. I love the characters I did expect Hugo and her to get together, but I still really enjoyed the story

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.

Expiration Dates is a cute romance novel about a woman who gets slips of paper telling her how long each of her romantic relationships will last. Definitely an interesting concept, but unfortunately, we don’t dive in to it. I feel like that’s a huge miss and I would’ve liked to know more about why she gets these “expiration dates.”

This was a pretty surface level read and I feel like we didn’t get a whole lot of depth out of most of the characters. It was a nice palette cleanser though and took less than 4 hours to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Rebecca Serle for the eARC.

Thanks to #partner @netgalley and @atriabooks for the digital ARC of Rebecca Serle’s Expiration Dates. The book will be published tomorrow!

I haven’t read a book by Rebecca Serle that I haven’t loved, and her new release, Expiration Dates, continues the trend. The novel centers on Daphne Bell who, since she was a child, has received strange messages from an unknown force. When she meets someone she’s going to date, pieces of paper with the person’s name and the duration of their romantic relationship appear.

These strange manifestations have, of course, some consequences. She doesn’t receive a paper? That’s not someone she’s going to date. Something goes wrong right around the relationship’s “expiration date”? Well, that explains it . . . and the relationship is over with no struggle and no fuss from Daphne.

And then, Daphne receives a note about Jake, and there is no expiration date. It’s a blank paper. What does that mean?

Daphne tries to work through the implications with her best friend Hugo—their romance lasted only a few months, but their attachment continued—but they proceed with the assumption that this means an unending relationship. Right?

Discussing further would get into spoiler territory, so I’ll just say (again!) that I absolutely loved this book. Serle excels at these books with slightly magical premises, stories that are nevertheless grounded in reality and in character. Her situations are always intriguing, and watching how Daphne, in Expiration Dates, navigates having her future foretold is so thought provoking in its consideration of free will and choice. Daphne is a compelling protagonist whose life has been shaped by circumstances outside her control, and I so appreciated the complexity of considering the implications of such circumstances for all of us. I tore through this one—pick it up tomorrow!

This was such a cute story, however there were several factors that didn’t work for me. Starting off with the letters. There was zero explanation as to how the letters were received. Furthermore, the ending felt rushed. Like how did we end up here? I didn’t understand it. It was cute book and I enjoyed the relationship between Jack and Daphne

I have enjoyed about half of Rebecca Searle's books and I never know which side a new book will fall on.

I was enjoying in Five Years but then was appalled at the ending. But I really did like One Italian Summer.

Expiration Dates seemed like it was going in the One Italian Summer direction for me.

Main character Daphne gets a memo telling her how long each of her relationships will last. It's weird, but she's used to it and still best friends with her favorite ex, Hugo (three months.)

Then one day, she gets a note about a new relationship with no ending date. Is this it? Does this mean Daphne is ready to fall in love forever?

I was vibing with this concept and then something about the ending (that I can't reveal without spoilers) just didn't sit right with me and kept me from loving this book..

In any case, if you are a Searle fan, I think you will enjoy this. If you did NOT like In Five Years, proceed with caution, as I think these two books are rather similar in a way.

I loved this book. It abounds in the usual Rebecca Serle charm while entrapping you by the characters. I'd definitely recommend it.